Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival (/kæn/; French: Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (Festival international du film), is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around the world. Founded in 1946, the invitation-only festival is held annually (usually in May) at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès.[1] The festival was formally accredited by the FIAPF in 1951.[2]
Location
Cannes, France
20 September 1946 (as International Film Festival)
On 1 July 2014, co-founder and former head of French pay-TV operator Canal+, Pierre Lescure, took over as President of the Festival, while Thierry Frémaux became the General Delegate. The board of directors also appointed Gilles Jacob as Honorary President of the Festival.[3][4]
It is one of the "Big Three" major European film festivals, alongside the Venice Film Festival in Italy and the Berlin International Film Festival in Germany, as well as one of the "Big Five" major international film festivals, which consists of the three major European film festivals, the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto, Canada, and the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, United States.[5][6][7][8]
Controversies[edit]
In recent years, a number of gender and sexual controversies have surrounded the Cannes Film Festival. These include "Heelgate" in which numerous female attendees of a red carpet premiere were stopped from entering in 2015 for wearing flat soled shoes instead of high heels.[35] The incident caused numerous female celebrities to wear flat soled shoes or no shoes at all to other red carpet premiers in a show of solidarity and protest.[36]
As a result of the past sexual controversies and the #MeToo movement that arose out of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, in 2018, Cannes Film Festival officials announced the creation of a telephone hotline during the festival in which victims could report incidents of sexual harassment and other crimes.[37] The hotline is in collaboration with the French government.[38]
General Delegate Thierry Frémaux reportedly 'banned' selfies on the red carpet of the festival in 2015.[39]
In 2017, along with the 70th anniversary events of the Festival, the issue of changing the rules on theatrical screening caused controversy.[40] In 2018, the enforcement of theatrical screening in France resulted in Netflix withdrawing their films from the festival.[41]
The Cannes Film Festival is organised in various sections:[43]
Prior to the beginning of each event, the festival's board of directors appoints the juries who hold sole responsibility for choosing which films will receive a Cannes award. Jurors are chosen from a wide range of international artists, based on their body of work and respect from their peers.[47] The appointment of the president of the jury is made following several annual management proposals made in the fall and submitted to the festival's board of directors for validation.[48]
The jury meets annually at the historic Villa Domergue to select the winners.[49]
The most prestigious award given at Cannes is the Palme d'Or ("Golden Palm") for the best film.